Photo Credit: COSMOH

Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) – the owner of the famed Peanuts music catalog – has reached an agreement with CBS over the allegedly unauthorized use of “Linus and Lucy” in a Late Show with Stephen Colbert bit.

LMFP announced as much this afternoon, in a formal release that was shared with DMN. As many know, May saw the company, founded by the namesake Lee Mendelson more than 60 years back, file four copyright complaints.

Therein, LMFP accused the government, a belt-buckle manufacturer, a video game publisher, and an auction house alike of infringing on multiple Vince Guaraldi compositions. (Guaraldi composed a significant amount of still-prominent music for the Peanuts television programs.)

Unsurprisingly, given the prevalence of the Peanuts brand, the litigation flurry garnered attention both in and beyond the industry. On the “beyond” front, the aforementioned Stephen Colbert took the opportunity to joke about the suits at the expense of his now-former employer.

“Peanuts is a powerful brand and corporation in and of itself. Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose,” Colbert said, at which point his band appeared to begin playing “Linus and Lucy.”

From there, after deliberately verifying that he was, in fact, hearing a rendition of the well-known work, Colbert sarcastically added, “Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money.”

With that, the straightforward bit ended, and the licensing talks began. Fast forward to the present – less than one month removed from the episode’s broadcast – and an agreement has materialized.

While LMFP didn’t shed light on the involved payment, it did confirm plans to donate the proceeds to World Central Kitchen; the meal-provider NPO previously received a $2.5 million donation on behalf of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“LMFP found the music’s use on The Late Show funny and entertaining, and is proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission,” added Jason Mendelson, LMFP’s chairman. “A principal goal of our enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and government entities about the need to obtain written license agreements to use music in a commercial setting.”

Even at this early stage of the game, between the complaints themselves and the corresponding media coverage, it seems safe to say that the enforcement campaign is having the desired effect. But is there more to the strategy than a push to educate?

Time will tell, though counsel for LMFP previously answered in the negative when asked about the four-suit flurry – specifically indicating that “there is no connection between the filing of these cases and Sony Music’s recent acquisition announcement.”

Nevertheless, the fact remains that LMFP has fired off several legal actions and related press releases since Sony Music upped its Peanuts Holdings stake to 80%. And to reiterate the obvious, the litigation definitely isn’t a good thing for the wider IP portfolio.

This is especially true of LMFP’s suit against GameMill Entertainment, “a third-party publisher of casual games” that was undoubtedly authorized to release last year’s Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club.

Accused of infringing on “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating” therein, GameMill hasn’t yet responded to the complaint; LMFP therefore has until June 22nd to file a default judgment motion ahead of a scheduled July 10th hearing, according to a new order.